The immune system can fight cancer by eliminating malignant cells or by preventing the outgrowth and spread of cancer cells that resist immune eradication. The nature and spatiotemporal dynamics of immune responses that efficiently control persisting cancer cells however have remained elusive. We have developed a transplantable melanoma model that approximates distinct disease stages seen in patients, including progressively growing tumors with metastatic spread, stably controlled tumors and long-term persistence of occult melanoma cells in absence of tumors. We have built key technologies around this model, including in vivo and ex vivo imaging, as well as a gene editing platform that we are using to generate melanoma variants tailored to address defined experimental questions. Combined, these tools uniquely permit tracking, manipulation and imaging of melanoma and tumor-specific T cells, including a direct visualization of localized T cell-mediated tumor suppression. We are currently using this set-up to elucidate the contribution of tissue-resident memory T cells and other immune cells to the durable control of cutaneous melanoma and metastatic disease, and to uncover basic molecular pathways involved in efficient tumor suppression. Such knowledge that has the potential to guide the development and improvement of future cancer immunotherapies.